The Stock Eliminator class of drag racing automobiles typically involves conventional sedan or similar production vehicles that have been substantially modified with larger engines, drag racing tires, suspension upgrades and body reinforcements. These cars have become sufficiently powerful and have sufficient traction that they tend to “do a wheelie” during hard acceleration. This causes the front of the car to lift off of the roadway, resulting in a loss of visibility and directional control for the driver. In order to control this unwanted lifting of the front of the car, wheelie bars have been developed that attached to the car and bear on the roadway during acceleration.
Typically the wheelie bar is a frame-like device that attaches to the vehicle suspension and includes one or more small wheels at its distal end. These small wheels bear on the road as the vehicle accelerates and they prevent the vehicle from rotating about its rear axle. The stresses that a wheelie bar places on the vehicle suspension can be substantial. This is a particular problem for leaf spring equipped cars if the wheelie bar is attached to the leaf springs or their mounting brackets where they attach to the vehicle. These mounting brackets can unbend or break under hard acceleration, causing severe damage to the vehicle and potential hazards to the driver. The present invention addresses this problem.
A number of inventions have been developed for the attachment of wheelie bars to vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,120, issued to Jones is directed to a chassis system for a race vehicle with wheelie bars. The wheelie bar is connected to the axle bracket below the center of the axle bracket hole and to frame structure rearward of the rear wheel by a third connecting member. The wheelie wheel is connected to the rearward end of wheelie bar for contact with the ground when the acceleration of the vehicle is sufficient to cause the front wheels of the vehicle to lift. An axle bracket is also connected to frame structure by means of coil spring/shock absorbers.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,721, issued to Allmendinger is directed to a wheelie bar apparatus for a model vehicle. The wheelie bar is supported on the chassis of the vehicle and may be installed and removed without the use of separate fasteners or tools. The wheelie bar comprises one or more fasteners for securing the extension to the chassis. In a first embodiment, a clip engages a bumper and is held against the bumper by the spring action of a resilient skid plate. The wheelie bar may control the extent of vehicle wheelies by contacting a surface underlying the vehicle and resisting the wheelie of the vehicle. Other embodiments provide for the attachment of the wheelie bar to be made to various locations such as bottom cross bar, top cross bar, or a rod positioned along the center line of the vehicle as the structural feature for supporting the wheelie bar vehicle extension A bearing element may be secured to or formed on a bearing support for contacting a surface underlying the vehicle during a wheelie and this bearing element may be a skid, runner, plate, or roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,238, issued to Lamb illustrates a pneumatic lift control device which is used to control the amount of front end lift of an automobile during acceleration. The embodiment shown comprises a lift control device which attaches to rear chassis and frame structure by means of tube and tension member. The lift control device extends to wheels and responds during acceleration to the lifting of the front end of the car by placement of the wheels against the ground in response thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,037, issued to Jones is directed to a device for the prevention of vehicular overturn of all terrain vehicles. The ATV is stabilized against backward overturn by means of a tire which is attached to the vehicle by means of vertical bracket, bars, and an upper bar, which are secured by screws or bolts. In a second embodiment the fastener bracket is attached to one end of a shock absorber to accomplish the same stabilization function.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,656, issued to Warren is directed to an apparatus for preventing vehicles from slipping sideways and going out of control under snow and ice conditions. The device includes a pair of wheels which bear against road surface and is attached to the vehicle at the rear axle by means of U-bolts.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a wheelie bar that can be securely attached to a leaf spring equipped vehicle. It is a further objective to provide a wheelie bar that does not attach to the leaf springs or spring mounts of the vehicle. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a wheelie bar that does not attach to the body or chassis of the vehicle. It is yet a further objective to a wheelie bar that is flexibly mounted to the vehicle. Finally, it is an objective of the present invention to a wheelie bar that is durable, inexpensive, easy to maintain and simple to use.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.